


Opal's day in Republic City

by seijhoes



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Bolin shows Opal around Republic City, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24709708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seijhoes/pseuds/seijhoes
Summary: Opal's never seen Republic City, and Bolin happens to know every inch of it! Plus, this is technically their first date, so he wants it to be as special as possible(post book three, sort of that in between before all the Kuvira stuff starts happening)
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	Opal's day in Republic City

**Author's Note:**

> After refreshing my memory by rewatching LOK (and looking at all the art and stuff), I fell very hard for Bopal, and since there isn't that much content for them, I decided I would take matters into my own hands and make some content of my own. I just thought it would be extremely cute if Bolin took Opal around the city to show her around as sort of a first date, and I also feel this kicked off their relationship officially before all the stuff with him going to work for Kuvira. Anyway, sorry if they're a little ooc, this is my first time writing them. Enjoy!

“Bolin, I don’t get why you’re so nervous, she likes you too doesn’t she?” Mako stood against the wall of his little brother’s room, his arms crossed as he watched Bolin toss yet another shirt onto the floor. Asami probably would have been better fit for this, but she was busy helping Korra, so the date outfit search was up to him.

“Yes, but you don’t get it Mako! This is our first, real actual date!” Bolin pulled the third shirt within a span of ten minutes on, doing a little spin. “What about this one?”

Mako sighed, going up to him and putting his hands on his shoulders. “Bolin, do you remember what she told you when you tried being all cool and macho in Zaofu?”

He blinked, tilting his head as if he were trying to recall her exact words. “Um… she told me to be myself.”

“Exactly, and I’m almost certain that no matter what you wear, as long as you’re just you, she’ll have a good time.” 

“But Mako! This is Opal Beifong, the most perfect girl to exist ever!” Bolin buried his face in Mako’s shoulder, his whining now muffled. “And I know I said that about Eska, and Ginger, but Opal is a lot different than the both of them! She likes me without me having to try hard- Oh!” He paused, lifting his head off of his brother’s shoulder. “That’s just me being myself, right?”

Mako couldn’t help but smile and nod. “Yeah, so just be Bolin, and nothing can go wrong.”

“Yeah! You’re right, thanks Mako.” Bolin beamed, waiting a beat and then looking down at his shirt.

“...do you think that this is the one or-”

“Just finish getting ready.”

***

Bolin waited outside in the courtyard of Air Temple Island for Opal to meet him. Since arriving to Republic City to continue her air bending training with Tenzin. After everything that had gone down with the Red Lotus and the destruction of the Northern Air Temple, Tenzin had made the decision to just continue training the new air benders there, which was a win for Bolin because he lived there at the temple again, and now Opal would be there too! The only downside was that she was really busy most of the time, which he understood, but he felt as if he had barely gotten to see her at all since Zaheer had been recaptured and put back into custody. Thankfully, Tenzin had given the new air benders a much needed day off (though he suspects maybe Pema had a hand in that decision, for which he would definitely thank her for later).

“Bolin?”

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed Opal in front of him. She was dressed in the traditional air bender clothing, the orange and yellow robes, but he still thought she looked absolutely gorgeous. “Ah, hey Opal! You look really pretty, I mean you always look pretty but you just look, wow…” He trailed off, his cheeks flushing when she started to giggle.

She smiled at him, giggling as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Thank you, and you look really handsome! I like your shirt.”

He internally thanked Mako/patted himself on the back for ultimately deciding on that shirt. “Thank you! Now, shall we be on our way m’lady?” He grinned, offering her his arm.

Opal beamed at him, looping her arm through his. “Why yes good sir, where to first?”

“You’ll see!” 

***

Okay, it was official, Opal Beifong was the cutest girl in the whole world, maybe the entire universe. The way her eyes lit up each time he showed her something, whether it was just a random landmark or a place that meant something to him (“That’s where I saved Pabu from being eaten by a pythonaconda!” “What? No way!”), she listened, watching him recount the event with wide eyes and a slack jaw. She was especially excited to see the statue of her grandmother, standing in all her glory. 

“Bolin, this is all so amazing!” Opal gushed, looking around as the streetlights began to turn on for the evening. “I’ve never really seen anything like Republic City.”

“Heh, I guess Zaofu isn’t really as big as this place is it?” Bolin smiled, looking down at their linked hands for the umpteenth time that night. He couldn’t remember when she had reached for his hand, he had just looked down and saw that they were now holding hands. He was in heaven.

Opal shook her head in response to his question, grinning. “Nope! I mean, Zaofu is really cool, but it’s not as big as Republic City, there’s just so much to see here.”

“Well, I got a couple more places to show you, if you’re up for it?” He smiled hopefully.

“Definitely! What do you have in mind?”

He grinned and started pulling her towards the pro-bending arena. “Only one of the coolest places in the entire city, the pro-bending arena! Where yours truly used to compete.” 

Her mouth formed a tiny ‘o’ shape as she looked at him, and then the arena. “You competed here?”

“Yep! Me, Mako, and Korra used to be a team, the Fire Ferrets! Well, it was this other guy before Korra, but then he sorta quit and then we were short a water bender, and then it was like Korra appeared out of nowhere!” He recounted when Korra had first come to them as he led her inside. It really only felt like yesterday when they had all first met, and yet so much had happened since then.

“The Fire Ferrets, after Pabu I assume?” Opal giggled as they found a seat in the stands.

He nodded, grinning wider. “Uh huh! I think the fame went to his head a little bit.” He laughed, taking a look around the arena. “Jeez, I actually haven’t been here since I did that charity thing to help rebuild the city after the whole Unalaq thing happened.”

Opal glanced at him, head tilted to the side. “I think I heard a little about that… You guys really went through a lot, it seems like you never get a break.”

“This is my break, gosh, it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve just gotten to relax, and I can’t think of any better way to spend my time than spend it with you!” He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully.

“Really? Well, same here, though I’m sure that you’ve had a lot of options, Nuktuk.” She giggled. “I’m sure you’ve had a lot of girls interested in you before.”

He hummed at that, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “I mean… Yeah, I mean I was engaged at one point, and I sorta had a thing with my co-star when I did the movers, but other than that you’re pretty much it!” He beamed, missing her shocked expression at his words as the announcer started talking. “Oh, it’s starting! Watch this Opal, it goes so fast-”

She turned to look, but little did Bolin know that her mind was going about as fast as the match was, and that he was in for a bunch of questions after it was over.

***

“Whoa.”

Bolin grinned, leading her over their table at Kwong’s and thanking the waiter that helped seat them. “I know right? It’s all thanks to Asami, she’s got like a connection here because of her company and it’s reputation, so she pulled some strings and got us a reservation!” 

Opal slid into the booth, folding her hands in her lap. “I’ve never actually been in a restaurant before, since we always had a cook growing up, I guess there really wasn’t any reason to go out anyplace.”

“Well m’lady, I’m here to treat you to anything your heart desires tonight!” He grinned, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

She blushed, her gaze flitting down to the menu. “Anything?”

“Yeah! Well, pretty much anything, I don’t think I could get anything too expensive…”

“No no, that’s not what I mean.” She put her hand on top of his. “What you said before, at the arena, about being engaged… What did you mean?”

Bolin blinked, the fact that he never elaborated on what he told her before finally dawning on him. “Ohh! Yeah, so, back before all the Unalaq stuff, when we all went down to the Southern Water Tribe to celebrate the Glacier Spirits Festival, I ended up sorta hitting it off with Korra’s cousin, Eska, but then it got really bad and I didn’t want to be with her anymore, and when I tried to break up with her, she took that as me wanting to get married! Obviously we didn’t, but yeah.”

“Oh…”

“Oh! And then that thing with Ginger, my co-star, it wasn’t really an official thing? We just kissed, but she didn’t actually like me.” He hummed, gasping again. “Oh, and I sorta had a thing for Korra, but she was more interested in Mako at the time, so that didn’t go anywhere either.” He shrugged, beaming at her. “And then you came along, and you were the first girl I didn’t have to change myself for you to like me, you just… Did!”

Opal’s smile made his heart clench as she took his hand in her own, returning the gesture that he had done before and kissed his knuckles. “And you’ll never need to change for me, because like you said, I like you for you. I liked you the minute you landed in Zaofu.” 

Bolin hadn’t realized he was tearing up until he looked at Opal’s surprised expression. “What?”

“Why are you sad? Oh jeez, did I say something wrong? That’d be so typical of me-”

“No!” He quickly stopped her, wiping the unshed tears away. “I’ve just… Never had anyone say they genuinely like me before! It made me really happy to hear that.” 

Opal smiled, letting out a small sigh of relief. “And you’ll continue to hear it, forever!”

His jaw fell open, his eyes beginning to glisten again. “Forever…” He trailed off.

“Unless this isn’t a forever type of thing? Ah man I’m sorry, I jumped to conclusions-”

“No, please keep jumping to conclusions!” He grinned, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. “Opal Beifong, if there’s anything I can guarantee you tonight, it’s that I’m yours forever.”

Opal smiled, looking at him adoringly. “In that case, so can I… Now, should we order?”

He grinned, unable to keep his eyes off of her. “Definitely!”

***

It was pretty late by the time the two of them got back to Air Temple Island, but to be fair, they had lost track of time at dinner. They had just begun talking about anything and everything, Bolin couldn’t remember the last time he had had such a good time with anyone before, and he hoped that this wouldn’t be the last date they had. 

“I had a really fun time today Bolin.” Opal finally broke the silence as they paused in the courtyard of the temple. She stood in front of him, gently swinging their linked hands. 

“Yeah, me too! I hope we can go out again soon.” Bolin smiled back at her, gulping softly. The outdoor lights cast a soft light on them both, but it made Opal look even more ethereal than she already did. She was smiling at him, and soon his eyes fell down to look at her lips instead of her whole face. The soft curve of them, the softness of them in general, sure she had given him cheek kisses, but was it selfish of him to want the real deal? “Hey, Opal?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think I could… Maybe, um… Well, you know-”

Before he could finish however, he felt a soft pair of lips, her lips, on his own. She had thrown her arms around his neck and his hands went to her waist, holding her steady as their lips moved together in perfect sync. By far, this was probably the best part of the day.

“Hey! Who’s there?”

The couple jumped apart, Bolin’s cheeks bright red from embarrassment of getting caught, only to get redder once he realized who it was that called them out.

“O-Oh, Aunt Lin!” Opal laughed airily, her cheeks the same shade of red as his own. “We just got home, and were saying goodnight, so…” She looked back at him, smiling bashfully. “Goodnight Bolin.”

“Goodnight, Opal..” He smiled, matching her shy smile and watching as she hurried inside.

Lin turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow at his goofy expression. “Don’t break her heart kid. This is your first and only warning from me.”

Bolin smiled, still in a daze as he watched Opal disappear inside. 

“Don’t worry, I would never dream of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: seijhoe_  
> tumblr: leifyy


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